DAILY HERALD
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD: Suburbs, Illinois bucking national hate crime trends – Charles Keeshan and Susan Sarkauskas (DIERSEN: Ever-increasingly, anti-Trumps demonize, denigrate, and condemn members of the following groups as being haters, racists, sexists, bigots, and even worse things: those who are Protestant, conservative, Republican, American, White, male, older, rich, gun owners, German American, draft avoiders, and/or those whose ancestors have been in America for a long time.)http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20161125/news/161129370/

ALTON DAILY NEWS
— Illinois Ranked First in Volunteering – Greg Bishop (DIERSEN: How many hours have you volunteered during the last day, last week, last month, last year, and last decade? I volunteered 10+ hours yesterday, 70+ hours last week, 300+ hours last month, 3,650+ last year, and 36,500+ hours last decade.)http://altondailynews.com/news/details.cfm?clientid=17&id=230255#.WDgbAuYrKM8

WASHINGTON POST
— Readers weigh in on boycotting Trump products – Michelle Singletary (DIERSEN: Who/what boycotts you? The following individuals, organizations, companies, governments, and countries boycott me: those that a) reject planks in the Republican Party platform and work against those like me who support those planks, b) reject planks in the Illinois Republican Party platform and work against those like me who support those planks, c) reject the Milton Township Republican Central Committee resolution against video gambling and work against those like me who support that resolution, d) focus on destroying those like me who they cannot manipulate/dominate, e) were defendants in lawsuits that I have filed, f) are operatives for the aforesaid, and/or g) are dupes for the aforesaid and those that are: anti-Protestant, anti-conservative, anti-Republican, anti-American, anti-White, anti-male, anti-older people, anti-rich people, anti-gun owners, anti-German Americans, anti-draft avoiders, and/or anti-those whose ancestors have been in America longer than their ancestors.)https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/get-there/readers-weigh-in-on-boycotting-trump-products/2016/11/24/26146bfc-b1cd-11e6-8616-52b15787add0_story.html— Limits on cash awards to federal employees loosened – Eric Yoder (DIERSEN: Of course, obviously, needless-to-say, and without question, virtually all cash awards are given to federal employees who are Democrat, minority, female, younger, and/or veteran.)https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2016/11/25/limits-on-cash-awards-to-federal-employees-loosened/

NEW YORK POST
— Few takers for Trump inauguration tickets from New York city representatives – Marisa Schultz and Danika Fears (DIERSEN: What percent of inauguration tickets will Democrat and RINO representatives give to protestors, that is, to those who are anti-Protestant, anti-conservative, anti-Republican, anti-American, anti-White, anti-male, anti-older people, anti-rich people, anti-gun owners, anti-German Americans, anti-draft avoiders, and/or anti-those whose ancestors have been in America longer than their ancestors?)http://nypost.com/2016/11/25/few-takers-for-trump-inauguration-tickets-from-city-representatives/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: At least two Clinton backers still want their tickets “because they wanted to protest during the inauguration,” said a Serrano staffer. . .Another congressional office in the city said it has had “zero requests” for tickets since Trump won and has not decided whether to dole them out to protesters or share them with GOP colleagues. . .“I am not going to be handing out any tickets to protesters,” Maloney said. “I believe it’s a great tradition we have in our country of the peaceful transfer of power.”)

WALL STREET JOURNAL
— Where Republicans Go From Here To start, we should back a constitutional convention to pass term limits and a balanced budget clause. – JEB BUSHhttp://www.wsj.com/articles/where-republicans-go-from-here-1480023537— How Democrats Can Win Again Develop a new vision now, and inspiring leaders to implement it will come later. – TED VAN DYK (DIERSEN: Democrats might win again if they stop being anti-Protestant, anti-conservative, anti-Republican, anti-American, anti-White, anti-male, anti-older people, anti-rich people, anti-gun owners, anti-German Americans, anti-draft avoiders, and/or anti-those whose ancestors have been in America longer than their ancestors.)http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-democrats-can-win-again-1480023710— Thinking About Charity on Black Friday Generosity is at the heart of Christianity, Islam and Judaism. – PETER J. RUBINSTEIN (DIERSEN: How many hours have you volunteered during the last day, last week, last month, last year, and last decade? I volunteered 10+ hours yesterday, 70+ hours last week, 300+ hours last month, 3,650+ last year, and 36,500+ hours last decade.)http://www.wsj.com/articles/thinking-about-charity-on-black-friday-1480022811

FORTUNE
— Fiat Chrysler’s CEO Thinks Donald Trump Will Be An Auto Industry ‘Game Changer’ – Dominique Rowe (DIERSEN: Overwhelmingly, my critics/opponents, their operatives, and their dupes despise if not hate a) General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler, b) those who work for General Motors, Ford, or Chrysler, and c) those who own General Motors, Ford, or Chrysler vehicles. I own three General Motors vehicles (2005 Chevy Corvette, 2003 Chevy Caviler LS, and 1972 Corvette), two For vehicles (2016 Ford Mustang and 1996 Ford Thunderbird LX), and one Chrysler vehicle (2013 Dodge Charger R/T Max). Overwhelmingly, my critics/opponents, their operatives, and their dupes despise if not hate unions and despise if not hate union members. I was a union member for almost 12 years.)http://fortune.com/2016/11/25/fiat-chrysler-donald-trump-auto-industry/

WORLD SOCIALIST WEB SITE
— Incoming Trump administration prepares assault on federal workers – Nick Barrickman (DIERSEN: Because I was a federal employee for almost 30 years, my critics/opponent, their operatives, and their dupes have always foisted negative federal employee stereotypes on me. In my defense, I earned a) a job-related bachelor’s degree when I was 21 and job-related master’s degrees when I was 27, 31, and 48, b) job-related professional certifications when I was 30, 32, 41, 45, 47, and 48, and c) a job-related professional license when I was 33.)http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/11/25/trum-n25.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: The incoming Trump administration has singled out civilian federal employees for attacks on jobs, employment security and pensions. According to the Washington Post, “President-elect Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress are drawing up plans to take on the government bureaucracy they have long railed against, by eroding job protections and grinding down benefits that federal workers have received for a generation.” The federal civil service, which consists of over 2.75 million workers, excluding members of the armed forces, the judiciary and elected officials, has come under relentless attack from the political right for decades. Right-wing propaganda depicts federal workers as overpaid and privileged drones in an attempt to divide the working class and divert anger over declining living standards and growing inequality against a section of the working class itself. The aim is to dismantle whatever remains of job protections and benefits that are based on civil service laws and contracts with federal employee unions. This is despite the best efforts of the unions over many years to help impose job cuts and wage and benefit concessions. In 2012, House Republicans proposed a 10 percent federal workforce reduction as part of their fiscal budget for that year. According to the Post, the incoming administration will implement “[h]iring freezes, an end to automatic raises, a green light to fire poor performers, a ban on union business on the government’s dime and less generous pensions.” In addition, the Trump White House will seek “guidance” from the Republican governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, who in 2011 provoked mass protests at the state capital by shredding public employee rights and imposing sweeping concessions on public workers. The new administration will also follow the example of Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who, as governor of Indiana, tied state worker pay to performance ratings. According to Jason Chaffetz, Republican congressman from Utah and chairman of the House Committee on Government Oversight and Reform, the plan to slash federal employee pensions will be modeled on his home state, which recently replaced defined benefit pensions with market-based defined contribution plans such as 401(k)s. The switch from traditional pensions will initially affect newly hired workers, according to press reports. The assault on federal workers is based on the ten-point “Contract with the American Voter” released by Donald Trump in late October. The statement declared that within its first 100 days in office, the Trump administration would enact “a hiring freeze on all federal employees to reduce the federal workforce through attrition (exempting military, public safety, and public health).” The Post quotes former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, a member of Trump’s transition team, as saying that Stephen Bannon, Trump’s chief White House strategist, will lead the attack on federal workers. Until signing on as the head of Trump’s presidential campaign last August, Bannon headed the Breitbart News web site, a platform for the fascistic alt-right that regularly rails against the so-called “privileged class” of government workers in Washington. Contrary to the myth of a ballooning “big government” promoted by the right wing, the US civil service has undergone numerous cutbacks in its workforce under both Republican and Democratic presidents. As a result, the number of federal employees today is consistent with the number employed in the 1960s, despite a near-doubling of the US population since then. A likely precedent for Trump’s plan to slash workers’ pay and job protections is the 2014 Veterans’ Choice Act, signed into law by President Obama. Passed during the scandal at the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) that year, the law facilitates the firing of VA workers while giving employees less than a week to appeal their dismissal. Prior to the Veterans’ Choice Act, workers had the option of appealing their dismissal to the Merit Systems Protection Board, established as part of the civil service system to prevent politically motivated firings. Under a Trump administration, such firings are likely to become the rule. During the presidential campaign, Trump regularly declared that if elected he would shut down government agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Education. At the same time, Trump is pledging a massive increase in military spending and packing his administration-in-waiting with military figures. The planned assault on federal workers exposes the cynicism behind repeated statements by Democratic Party leaders—from Obama and incoming Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer to Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren—suggesting that Trump may enact measures to improve the lot of workers and pledging their readiness to collaborate with him. The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the largest federal employee union, has remained silent on Trump’s agenda. On November 9, the day after the election, AFGE President J. David Cox Sr. released a brief press statement declaring, “We ?will work with the Trump administration on areas of common ground, as we have with every administration for generations.”)

Author: David Diersen

The opinions that I express in GOPUSA ILLINOIS emails are based on experience that I have gained doing many things since 1948. I base my opinions on what I learned a) working for the federal government for almost 30 years -- Post Office 1966-1969, IRS 1971-1980, and GAO 1980-1997, serving on the Executive Committee of the Association of Government Accountants Chicago Chapter 1983-1996, and being a union member while I worked for the Post Office and IRS; b) earning an MBA from Loyola in 1976, a masters degree in accounting from DePaul in 1980, and a masters degree in financial markets and trading from IIT in 1997; c) passing the CPA examination on my first attempt in 1979 and passing the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt in 1981; c) serving as a Republican Precinct Committeeman since 1999, the GOPUSA Illinois Editor since 2000, the TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois Chairman 2005-2012, a member of the 2008 Illinois Republican Party (IRP) Platform and Resolutions Committee, a Wheaton Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee member 2003-2011, the Milton Township Republican Central Committee webmaster 2008-2010 and 2000-2004, an Illinois Center Right Coalition Steering Committee member 2003-2007, and an American Association of Political Consultants Midwest Chapter board member 2001-2004; d) attending the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 IRP State Conventions as a delegate; e) being the subject of a nasty 4-page article in the February 1978 issue of Money Magazine; f) pursing litigation including Diersen v. GAO and Diersen v. Chicago Car Exchange; g) being married since 1978; h) living in Crete 1948-1972, in University Park 1972-1976, in Chicago 1976-1978, and in DuPage County, Milton Township, and Wheaton since 1978; and i) being baptized, raised, and confirmed as a Missouri Synod Lutheran.
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